Outside of the U.S., laser beams are routinely scanned across audiences in discos, nightclubs and concerts. Experience in those countries has proven this type of laser display to be quite safe. There have been a very small number of accidents or incidents in 25 years of audience scanning. FIG. 1 is a photo of an audience in Italy being scanned with a laser, showing how these laser light shows operate.
However, in the U.S., audience scanning is not usually performed due to regulatory and legal liability concerns. In operating audience scanning laser projectors, there is a higher margin of safety required in the U.S. One way to increase safety is to have the laser scanning system detect the audience's faces, so as to turn down or turn off the laser beam while scanning those areas.
Accordingly, the present invention discloses an audience scanning laser display which is capable of detecting areas of the audience in which one or more faces are turned toward the laser projector. Once these areas have been detected, the apparatus is able to turn down the power of the beam or turn the beam off altogether when passing over a face.